Coronavirus cases surge in Brazil, Mexico as regional leaders plan to reopen economy

While the number of coronavirus death in Brazil reportedly blew past Italy’s toll on June 4 and Mexico reported a record number of new cases, the regional leaders in Latin America pushed to end lockdown measures in a bid to kick their economies back into gear. According to an international media report, Latin America has now become a new focus of the deadly pandemic. The health officials have been urging governments to not open their economies too fast and to avoid public crowds. 

With a soaring number of cases, the Brazilian Health Ministry posted a record number of daily deaths for the third consecutive day on Thursday. With 1,437 deaths over the last 24 hours and nearly 30,92 additional coronavirus cases, the country now has over 614,000 confirmed cases and the deadly virus has claimed nearly 34,021 lives. On the other hand, Mexico also reported 816 deaths and the second consecutive daily record. 

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While the Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro has played down the pandemic and criticised social distancing measures, Mexican President Anders Manuel Lopez Obrador also urged his countrymen not to over-react and reportedly noted that the deaths per capita for its nearly 130 million people were still far lower than in many other countries. According to Johns Hopkins University tally, Mexico’s death from the virus ranks it seventh among countries worldwide. 

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Rapid spread in South America 

Even with the rapid spread of COVID-19, leaders in Latin America are easing the lockdown restrictions. As per reports, Rio de Janeiro, which nearly has seven million people, allowed more than 10,000 street vendors to go back to work. Bolsonaro also encouraged federal solicitor general to sue states to force them into reopening their beaches. The health officials reportedly said that there are indications that the new hospitalisations are stabilising, however, they also noted that the new deaths and confirmed cases are still growing rapidly. 

Meanwhile, with the growing number of confirmed cases, last month the WHO said that South America has become as ‘epicentre’ of the COVID-19 pandemic. Amid the increasing pressure for his handling of the coronavirus outbreak, Bolsonaro will also be signing a $10.72 billion coronavirus package for the state and cities. However, defending a plan for public servants, in return for signing the package, the President has asked the governors to back the freezing of public sector pay increases for two years. 

(Image: AP) 

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